Bitpay’s Big Announcement & Wikipedia Accepting Bitcoin

A couple of big announcements in the Bitcoin ecosystem today. The first coming from Bitpay who announced its new fee structure for merchants that will allow for FREE UNLIMITED processing of Bitcoin transactions Forever! That’s right, for the basic plan with support (limited) a new business can begin accepting Bitcoin for NO FEES! The company will still generate revenue streams through its paid Business and Enterprise tiers. The company wrote on their blog today that they are targeting the enrollment of 1 million merchants by 2016.

“We’re on a quest to onboard one million merchants by the end of 2016. Join the global economy and start accepting bitcoin today.”

— Bitpay Blog

With credit card companies charging exorbitant fees for processing transactions, eliminating a cost barrier for businesses that want to accept Bitcoin is a huge incentive for them to enroll and replace their credit card processing.

Wikipedia / Wikimedia accepts Bitcoin donations

Coming on the tails of the Bitpay announcement, the Wikimedia Foundation, a non-profit that runs Wikipedia announced on their blog that they will now be accepting Bitcoin donations. The reddit Bitcoin community had been active in asking the foundation to formally accept Bitcoin and today they finally got their wish. The announcement rapidly climbed to the top of the reddit charts with dozens of folks announcing their immediate pledge to the foundation.

Team Bitcoin supports Wikipedia and encourages all who use their service to donate and donate regularly. To donate in Bitcoin click here.